"The Recruit" brings spy thrillers back in style

Published February 7, 2001

The new spy thriller The Recruit, has Oscar-worthy acting and an action-packed, suspenseful plot that keep you on the edge of your seat until the last seconds of the film.

The story largely revolves around James Clayton (Colin Farrell), a savvy computer genius who has just graduated form MIT. Before he slips down the boring road of a computer programmer, Walter Burke (Al Pacino), saves him. Burke confronts and convinces Clayton to join the CIA; promising to find the killer of his father in return for service. Then the plot twists begin, and the story starts spinning.

The actors play their roles well, through a wide range of emotional and dramatic sequences. Layla Moore, (Bridget Moynahan) in the movie, plays an excellent CIA trainee and brings love in play. From the moment Moore and Clayton meet, there is a strong chemistry between them. Moore, sexy and deceiving, uses her unconventional talent to get what she wants, at times confusing Clayton, forcing him into the stickiest of situations.

Though the plot is interesting, the various numbers of plot twists do more harm than good. The end of the film is so full of twists and turns that the movie becomes confusing.

Most of the mystery and suspense surrounds Al PacinoÃ‚â€™s role in The Recruit as head-instructor at the "Farm," a CIA training facility. Sometimes his role is all-too-familiar to the role he played in "The DevilÃ‚â€™s Advocate," but for the most part, he keeps his ranting to a minimal. PacinoÃ‚â€™s line in the movie, "Nothing is what it seems," is essentially the backbone for the story, and his character embodies that principle well.